Oracle-Google trial: both sides win, or lose, in the first round
Both sides lost, or arguably won, the first round of the Oracle-Google trial after the jury came to deadlock on a key question: was Google's use of Java to build its Android mobile operating system amount to "fair use"? Although the jury found in favour of Oracle, which has been demanding hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from Google, they could not agree on the key question. Google has called for a mistrial; if successful that would see the copyright portion of the trial re-run.
The
Guardian
AT&T Regrets Offering Unlimited iPhone Data Plans
Randall Stephenson, AT&T's CEO, has admitted in a recent interview that the carrier didn't carefully consider the implications of offering an unlimited data plan for iPhone customers. If the carrier hadn't come up with this offer, maybe the revenue would have been substantially larger. By allowing heavy data usage on its networks for customers who pay fixed amounts, the carrier is essentially bleeding money. More disturbing for them is that non-frequent users are forced to subsidise the costs of others' unlimited plans, since the carrier needs to get money from someone.
ITProPortal
Facebook likely to be the fourth richest flotation in stock market history
The New York offices of stockbrokers JP Morgan flew a flag – with Facebook's familiar blue background and white logo – on Friday. Some onlookers were appalled that it was flying at the same height as the American flag beside it. But Facebook's status as an American icon is about to be cemented by its stock market offering. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive, and other executives, began their "roadshow" on Monday to persuade institutional investors to buy shares before the flotation.The flag-flying JP Morgan is one of the underwriters, along with Goldman Sachs, with Morgan Stanley in the lead, of the initial public offering. It should not be too hard a sell. Hundreds of investors lined up outside New York's Sheraton Hotel yesterday to hear Zuckerberg set out the case for buying shares in Facebook's initial public offering (IPO) which has been eagerly awaited for months. Some 338m shares are being sold off at a price between $28 and $35 – which would raise between $9.4bn (£5.8bn) and $11.8bn in ready cash and potentially value the company at up to $100bn.
The
Guardian
Google's app sales to go through 15 billion mark
Google will tomorrow hit a major milestone in app downloads from its site. It has sold 15 billion apps from its Google Play Store (formerly Android Market) – hot on the heels of Apple's App Store which reached 25 billion apps in March. Google's growth is now outpacing Apple. Last month Fiksu, the maker of a mobile marketing platform for apps, revealed downloads from Apple's App Store fell by 30 per cent in March.
The
Independent
Indian based IT service providers grow
The top five Indian based IT service providers are continuing to grow. According to a report by Gartner the companies grew 23.8 percent in 2011, compared to the 7.7 percent of growth for the whole global market. TCS came out on top with a 2011 market share of 1.1 percent, saw a 2010-2011 growth rate of 29.4 percent and a revenue of $9031 million.
Tech
Eye
Hong Kong turns factories into datacentres to fuel cloud growth
An innovative approach to datacentre development is helping to see off Hong Kong’s competitors and establish it as the number one cloud computing hub in Asia, according to the government CIO, Daniel Lai. Speaking to The Reg at the 13th annual Info-Security Conference in Hong Kong, Lai dismissed suggestions that Special Administrative Region (SAR) could be usurped by close rival Singapore as a technology centre for the region.“Hong Kong has always had a very laissez-faire open market approach and there are a lot of advantages in its location, as the front-end for mainland China and as a financial and trading hub,” he gushed.
The
Register
Angry Birds creator posts £42m annual profit
Finnish game developer Rovio, the masterminds behind the ridiculously popular Angry Birds, today posted an annual profit of £42m.In a blog post, the Angry Birds creator reported 2011 revenues of $106.3m (£65.8m) and earnings before tax of $67.6 (£42m), which the firm claims demonstrates the contining success of Angry Birds as a brand. During this time, the development firm reported more than 648m downloads of its multi-platform app and had more than 200m monthly active users."The strong growth in revenue clearly demonstrates the popularity of the Angry Birds brand", said Rovio CEO Mikael Hed.
The
Inquirer
HBO Go Now Supports Android 4.0 Phones
HBO announced a few days ago that the app available on Google Play will now deliver extended support for Android devices. For the overly optimistic Android fans, we should say upfront that the tablets are not included in this offer. HBO GO and HBO MAX GO, both free apps, have been updated to offer support for Android phones running the Ice Cream Sandwich platform. The updates also include "performance enhancements and bug fixes."
ITProPortal
Groupon CEO plans to 'reinvent local commerce ecosystem'
In an open letter to shareholders Groupon CEO Andrew Mason has outlined plans to take the firm into local ecommerce services with a series of products designed to expand beyond its core business. "Groupon is setting out to reinvent the multi-trillion-dollar local commerce ecosystem. We are building an integrated suite of tools and services that we believe will profoundly change the way we shop locally," he wrote. "Today, Groupon is a marketing tool that connects consumers and merchants. Tomorrow, we aim to move upstream and serve as the entry point for local transactions." Groupon wants to become the operating system for ecommerce he said, and would be relying on technology currently under development to do it. The company's SmartDeals software, which does a better job of targeting ads, was showing a 50 per cent improvement in sales during limited trials and would be rolled out to all customers this year to bolster the existing customer base, and there'll be a greater emphasis on mobile offers.
The
Register
T-Mobile boosts HSPA+ and grabs LTE kit; iPhone support this year
T-Mobile USA has announced the next phase of its 4G drive, with broader roll-out of HSPA+ 42Mbps service and new partners for its 2013 LTE network. The carrier has inked deals with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks – both mainstays in the 4G industry – to LTE-capable kit at 37,000 cell sites across T-Mobile’s 4G network, boosting signal quality and enhancing performance beginning in 2012. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has also seen more than 1m users sign up to the VoIP service, with each user making over ten calls on average. In fact, over 10m calls have been made on Bobsled since April 2011. Interestingly, 80-percent of calls originate from outside of the US – suggesting international users or US users traveling – and 95-percent of the total user-base for Bobsled are non-T-Mobile subscribers. As for Bobsled Messaging, users of the IM service are “predominantly” US based, T-Mobile says, with 95-percent of messages sent domestically within the US.
Slash
Gear